Christmas in the Heart
by JJ Twi1ight
Summary: Jacob and Bella are celebrating their second Christmas together and wanted to do something different that they would always remember.


Title: Christmas in the Heart

Author: JJ

Pairing: Jacob/Bella

Rating: T

Genre: Friends, family, and love

Summary: Jacob and Bella are celebrating their second Christmas together and wanted to do something different that they would always remember.

Author's Note: I wrote this a year ago and never posted it. Merry Christmas!

**Christmas in the Heart **

Jacob and Bella were celebrating their 2nd Christmas together. Last year everything was new and filled with firsts. Their first snowball fight, which included Quil and Embry helping Bella to ambush Jacob. Jacob was covered in snow and loved every minute of it while Bella laid out making snow angels. The day ended with sweet kisses and warm hot chocolate. They worked together to make homemade presents because that was all they could afford.

Jacob snickered as he watched Bella strain as high as she could and then he finally helped her to hang their first mistletoe which hung over the front door. They would kiss each other each time they entered or exited their Seattle apartment. Bella was going to college while Jacob worked to try and support them both, but juggling two jobs was hard.

They were thankful for the wonderful neighbors that they had, especially Ms. Carter who was brave enough to have them, plus Embry, Quil, Seth and Leah in her home on a weekly bases. Ms. Carter was a retired widow, all her children were grown and had families of their own. She promised that having the gang over was the highlight of her week and they all believed it to be true.

Bella knocked on the door with her foot, her arms filled with sacks draped over her arm full of brand new Christmas decorations. Her and Jacob talked about it and decided that they wanted to buy new decorations for something special. They had skimped by and saved every penny they had in order to have enough money to make the purchases and Bella felt thrilled with what they were able to get.

Jacob opened the door and smiled at Bella. "Here, let me help you with that."

"Thank you." Bella shivered, hugging her scarf closer to herself.

Jacob took the packages and set them on the antique coffee table and then took Bella into his arms. She sighed and leaned into his warmth. Bella loved being held by Jacob and the scent of his natural woody smell still made her weak in the knees. Jacob felt like he had the greatest gift he could ever imagine each and every time he held Bella's fragile body against his own.

After a few minutes Bella was warm and took off her jacket and scarf hanging it on the wooden coat rack.

"You ready to get started?" Jacob asked.

"Yes!" She grinned excited and carefully got the the gold garland from its package.

Jacob had spent the last hour selecting a small live tree and the sweet scent of pine had filled the air. He had taken strand after strand of white twinkle lights and wrapped them carefully around the branches of the tree. Bella carefully unwound the garland and stretched as high as she could reach and began to wind the garland through the branches.

"You gonna make it Bella." Jacob chuckled, teasing her.

"Yes, thank you very much." Bella pouted at him happily.

"You are welcome. I had you in mind when I picked a 6ft tree."

"That was a good idea. It is at least taller than the tree we had last year."

"True, that was just sad." Jacob laughed.

Jacob thought back to their first tree which was decorated with their childhood ornaments. Jacob wanted to throw away the pictures of him with a toothy grin, but Bella wouldn't let him. Bella wanted to hide her attempts at cutting out snowflakes that would make a chain to go around the tree, but Jacob thought it was great and proud of her creativity. The tree itself was free and coming up to 4 ½ ft tall it became obvious why it had been free. It wasn't the most beautiful Christmas, but it was theirs and they couldn't have been more happy.

A year later Jacob had met a guy who had some land and as long as Jacob was willing to cut it down himself he could select whatever tree he wanted. It still wasn't a large tree, but that was good due to the limited space and time that they had to decorate.

The tree was nestled tightly between the love seat and an old antique wooden rocking chair. Above the brick fireplace was a mantle with a nativity set. Each figurine was beautiful painted with great detail. Jacob wanted to make sure that the tree matched the elegant simplicity that decorated the rest of the apartment. He took the shiny red ornaments and hung them on the branches of the soft tree. Bella added large white snowflakes and together they placed the star on top. Stepping back from the tree Jacob put his arms around Bella's waist and looked at the truly beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

"It's perfect." Bella said happily.

"I still can't believe that we did this." Jacob said with a soft sigh.

"Do you think we shouldn't have spent our money this way?" Bella asked, turning in his arms to be facing him.

"No, I think it was great. It represents Christmas perfectly."

_Two days earlier... _

"_Alright tape." Bella said to Jacob as she held the wrapping paper around the sealed tight package. _

"_Gotcha." Jacob placed a strip of tape over the paper, holding it together. _

_Bella carefully labeled each present for Billy and Charlie, excited about being able to go home for Christmas. Jacob had received a nice Christmas bonus from work and so they were both excited about being able to purchase new presents for their friends and family. _

_Christmas music played in the background and Jacob smiled at Bella as she went to the door after hearing someone knock on it. He had wanted to propose to her this Christmas and even found the perfect ring, but he still couldn't afford it. Bella had told him before that marriage wasn't that important to her, but Jacob felt like she said that because she knew that they couldn't really afford do it. _

"_Why the long face?" Bella asked. _

"_Nothing." Jacob smiled and looked at the plate of cookies that she had in her hand. There were gingerbread men, frosted santas, snickerdoodles, fudge and peanut butter cookies. "Where did that come from?" He asked, curious, but also wanted to change the subject. _

"_Ms. Carter brought it over. She said to wish you a Merry Christmas." _

"_Oh, well that was nice of her." Jacob took one of the cookies and ate it. "Yum... Very nice of her." _

_Bella giggled knowing that the way to Jacob's heart was often through his stomach. "Yes it was, I'm not sure it was really for us though." _

"_What makes you say that?" Jacob asked. _

"_You know her kids and grandkids were planning to come visit, but they had to cancel due to the storm expected." _

"_Oh, that is a bummer. It might be hard for us to get home as well." _

"_That is true." Bella acknowledged and got herself a cookie as well nibbling on it quietly. _

_Jacob knew that Bella had been watching the weather closely and felt very worried about the snow that was predicted. He wished that they could leave today and make sure that they made it, but he still had to go to work for the next two days. They would be leaving Christmas Eve for the four hour drive back home. _

_Late that night Jacob and Bella cuddled on the couch watching It's a Wonderful Life as the snow began to fall. It snowed all day and the next leaving behind over a foot of snow. With each beautiful flake falling from the sky their hopes of going home melted away. _

_Bella knew that she should have stayed home, but she didn't want to look at the presents that wouldn't be opened until a week later when they decided to go for New Years instead. She wandered along aimlessly, leaving deep tracks in the snow. She came across a small general store advertising hot apple cider and decided that she would treat herself to a cup. _

_The apple and cinnamony goodness warmed her as she wandered the isles. She came across a small section of Christmas tree decorations and she thought the bright sparkly reds and intricate snowflakes to be beautiful. Suddenly Bella had an idea. _

"You are right it does make it Christmas." Bella looked at Jacob's face, seeing the twinkling white lights reflecting off his skin. She reached up and kissed his lips which Jacob returned eagerly. Jacob moved his hands along her waist getting completely lost in the moment until his phone vibrated in his pocket. He jumped which caused Bella to laugh as he brought his phone out, reading the short text message.

"She's coming!" He said eagerly.

"Quick!" She made sure that everything was perfect on the tree and Jacob made sure the spare key he had was secure in his pocket.

They made sure to close the door behind them and ran across the hall to their own apartment, their faces huddled against a crack they left in the door to be able to see. Jacob heard Bella's heart and felt his own pounding wildly in his chest.

The elevator door opened and Ms. Carter walked slowly to her apartment. Her keys jingled as she fumbled through them until she found the right one to go into the lock and she went inside. A soft gasp escaped her lips as she looked at the beautifully decorated tree standing in her living room. She was prepared to spend the evening alone and yet happy tears pricked at her eyes.

Her door closed slowly behind her and Bella closed her own door as well.

"That was a great idea Bella."

"Almost as good as your idea of hanging the mistletoe over the door." Bella smiled and pointed above her head at the greenery above them.

"Oh yeah, that was by far the best idea ever." He smirked and cupped her face bringing their lips together.

Bella put her arms around his neck and moved backwards while kissing him. Jacob smiled against her lips while kissing her not sure where she was leading him, but didn't really care.

Bella's foot caught on the corner of the love seat and suddenly they were both clamoring to the ground. They landed in a tangle of limbs with Jacob almost destroying their tiny Christmas tree. Laying on the ground Jacob looked up at the toothy grin that he wanted to throw away and the snowflake chain that had been carefully stored and knew that this was what he wanted for the rest of his life.

"Marry me, Bella." The words tumbled out of his mouth suddenly, surprising them both. "I don't have a ring or any of the things you are supposed to have when proposing, but I've been thinking about it for a long time. I want to marry you. I love you, Bells." He said, smiling at her.

"I love you, too, Jake." She smiled with her elbows propped up on his chest. "And of course I'll marry you." She leaned down and kissed him passionately.

Across the street Ms Carter looked at her coat rack to find Bella's jacket and scarf left there by accident and smiled knowing that she had the best neighbors in the world. "Merry Christmas, you sweet couple." She mumbled to herself knowing that she would invite them over that evening for dinner and they would spend Christmas together.


End file.
